Shoe sewing machines



Feb. 28, 1961 L G, M|L| ER 2,972,969

SHOE SEWING MACHINES File Jap. 29, 1959 stron snwrNG MACHINES Lloyd G.Miller, Beverly, Mass., assigner to United Shoe Machinery Corporation,Boston, Mass., a corporation of New Jersey Filed Jan. 29, 1959, Ser. No.'789,842

5 Claims. (Cl. 1'12-52) The present invention relates to machines forattaching a welt to a last-supported Goodyear welt shoe upper and aninsole member, and more particularly, to improvements in welt guidestherefor, similar to those disclosed in United States Letters Patent No.2,509,221, granted May 30, 1950, upon application of J. P. Fredericksen,and in United States Letters Patent No. 2,898,875, granted August ll,1959, upon an application led in the name of the present inventor.

The machine of the inventors patent is constructed with a welt guidearranged to assist in the attachment of a welt to a shoe in a mannerwhich will prevent it from being strapped against the shoe upper, theouter welt edge being untensioned and the inner edge being compressed,so that the outer edge projects away from the bulging upper and has -noneed of being attened into the plane of the insole in a separateoperation before an outsole may be stitched or cemented to it. Thisresult is obtained in the machine of the patent by utilizing awelt-engaging and deecting finger extending upwardly from the welt guideacross its exit and beyond the sewing point between a section of thewelt running from the guide along the upper of the shoe being operatedupon to raise the outer unattached edge of the weltto a position atleast level with the outer tread surface of the insole member. The useof a welt-deliecting finger in this manner is effective for the purposeintended when the welt is soft and well tempered. When the welt isuntempered and relatively stii, the amount of exure required to raise itto the extent indicated may impart greater frictional resistance to itsmovement through the guide than is conducive to or desirable for goodshoemaking results. Although the point at which the frictionalresistance is applied to the welt is located beyond the sewing guidewhere it affects the outer edge of the welt only, the inner edge beingsewn to the shoe, the feeding movement of the shoe in the machine may beretarded, especially when operating upon thick, stiff welt.

To avoid retarding the feeding movement of the shoe while detiecting thefree outer edge of the welt after being attached to a shoe, the machineof the Fredericksen patent is provided with a guide which connes thewelt near the point of sewing operation, but the widthwise dimension ofthe guide is greater at its entrance than at its exit to enable'the weltto swing within its general widthwise plane through a limited angularmovement restricted to the point of needle operation as a center. Bythis construction also the welt is attached to a shoe with less tensionalong its outer edge and in a more satisfactory manner than is possiblewith the conventional form of welt guide.

-The object of the present invention is to provide a Goodyear weltinseam sewing machine with a welt guide which enables the attachment ofa welt to be accomplished with still greater uniformity than heretoforeby employing a construction capable of utilizing the advantages of theinventions disclosed in both the Fredericksen and inventors priorpatents above identilied tts Patent ICC Patented Feb. 28, 1961 withoutany of the disadvantages resulting therefrom. Other objects are tosimplify and improve the lconstruction and 'mode of adjustment of aguide for a Goodyear welt inseam sewing machine in which the risk ofimparting greater frictional resistance to the feeding movement of ashoe is avoided, while at the same time improving the accuracy ofdirection afforded by the guide of the Fredericksen patent. A stillfurther purpose of the invention is to provide a welt guide capable ofenhancing Vthe quality and uniformity of workmanship obtainable throughthe use of a welt-engaging and deliecting linger, in which it isunnecessary .to elevate the outer edge of the welt to the extentrequired in the machine of inventors patent.

The principal feature of the present invention, in attaining the objectsoutlined, includes the use in a curved hook needle Goodyear welt shoesewing machine having a welt guide formed of a doubled-over strip ofsheet material and a connecting base, between the doubledover portionsof which and the base the welt is directed and edge gage means for thewelt is arranged for pressing it widthwise against the connecting basebetween the doubled-over portions, the edge gage means comprising anelongated spring tting between the doubledoverfportions of the guidestrip and forming` an incomplete loop having a gap to take up yieldinglya limited amount of widthwise movement in .the welt as the curvature ona shoe being sewn changes from concave to convex. As illustrated, theleaf spring is clamped outside the space between the folded-overportions of the welt guide strip by a releasable screw and clamp plateengaged by the screw to grip the spring in` a direction sbstantiallyparallel to the movement of the welt through the guide. In so doingadjustments are possible for welts of diiferent widths by providing fashank on the leaf spring gage which extends through the clamping meansat a position where it is readily visible and accessible even with theshoe parts in operating position in the machine.

These and other features of the invention, as hereinafter described andclaimed, will become apparent from the following detailed specificationtaken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is an enlarged perspective view of al welt guide and its mountingfor a machine, iny which the features of the present invention areembodied; u

Fig. 2 is a sectional detail view in left side` elevation of partsof.the machine and a portion of a shoe being operated upon surrounding thesewing point;

LFig. 3 is a plan View of lthe same parts of the machine andl a shoebeing operated upon, illustrating the action while sewing about aconcave curvature of a shoe;

'Fig 4 is a similar view of the same machine parts illustrating theaction while sewing about a convex curvature on the shoe; Y*

Fig. 5 is a sectional View of a portion of a shoe, illustrating theVposition of the welt after being sewed by the machine of Fig. l; v

Fig. 6 is a perspective detail View of an edge gage employed in the weltguide; and n v Fig. 7 is a perspective detail view looking from the leftfront of a support for the welt guide.

The illustrated machine in its construction and mode of operation issubstantially the same as that disclosed in United States vLettersPatent No. 2,763,224, granted September 18, 1956, upon application of James P, Carter. The machine is a shoe inseam sewing machine which isarranged to direct a welt 2 into line with an inseam y4 connecting aninsole 6 with the overlasted margin of a shoe upper 8 mounted on a last9, the inner edge-of the welt being secured by the inseam and the outeredge being free and projecting beyond the seam line and the upperuniformly in a attened condition, as illustrated in the solid lines inFig. 5. Numerous expedients are employed to secure this result and toavoid excessive distortion in the welt during sewing when it is sewn instrapped condition, as shown in the broken lines of Fig. 5. If the weltis sewn in the broken line strapped position of Fig. 5, it is common toslash and beat it until it is forced to expand along its outer edge torelieve the tension and to permit it to assume the solid line flatposition.

The illustrated machine is provided with a curved hook needle 10, acurved awl 12, a channel guide 14, a back rest 15 (Fig. 2), an improvedwelt guide and other stitch-forming and work-engaging devices, theconstruction and mode of operation of which are similar to those of thepatents and application, above referred to. The needle, awl, and channelguide are actuated toward and from engagement with the work and aremoved in the direction of work feed alternately to produce a continuousfeeding movement of the work, the awl forming a perforation in the workand feeding the work to a position where the needle enters theperforation formed by the awl to continue the feeding movement of thework. Before the needle enters the work, the awl retracts leaving abrief interval in which the needle and awl are disengaged from the work.During the intervalbetween the retraction of the awl and the engagementof the work by the needle, the work is fed with the channel guide, thethread tension being such and the operator normally exerting a force ina direction, that insures frictional engagement of the shoe with thechannel guide duri` ing this interval. Because the shoe is fedcontinuously yby the stitch-forming and work-engaging devices, it lismore important for the welt to move freely through the welt guide thanin a machine in which the shoe is -fed intermittently, and in whichthere is an interval between feeding movements, enabling the position ofthe welt in the welt guide to become readjusted.

The welt guide in the machine of the present invention instead ofemploying a welt-deecting nger extending from the guide across its exitand beyond the sewing point to raise the outer edge of the welt to aposition level with the outer surface of the sole member on the shoe,has a welt-deecting finger of greatly reduced length, so that it doesnot raise the outer edge of the welt to a position level with the solemember. Under many conditions the use of a welt-deflecting linger isentirely eliminated without preventing the welt from being attached tothe shoe in relatively at, nonstrapping position.

As is common with prior welt guides, the illustrated within the channelsof the block 22 and are secured in place by a bolt 24 having a nut 26,the bolt passing through registering openings in the terminals of thestrip 16 and in the channel block 22.

Instead of utilizing a rigid edge gage disposed within the space betweenthe doubled-over portions of the welt guide strip 1'6, the edge gageemployed in the guide of the present invention is4 constructed to pressthe Welt widthwise yieldingly against the connecting base 18 of thestrip and to take up a limited amount of widthwise movement in the weltas the curvature of a shoe being sewn changes from time to timethroughout a sewing operation. As illustrated in Fig. 3 of the drawings,it is readily apparent that the portion of the shoe operated uponpresents a concave curvature, the welt 2 entering the welt guide along arelatively straight path with little or no tension. Under this conditionthe welt has no tendency to stretch along the outer edge, but on thecontrary there is set up a force of relative compression lengthwise ofthe welt. In sewing about a convex curvature in the shoe parts as inFig. 4, however, a relatively high tension is impressed upon the outeredge of the welt and if the welt'is thick and stiff considerable forceis required to direct the welt into proper sewing position under thiscondition. It is about the convex curvature of a shoe, therefore, inwhich the greatest force is applied to the welt by the edge gage, and asa result there exists the greatest tendency for the welt to bind andoffer resistance to feeding movements.

As shown in Fig. 4, the edge gage has yielded a limited amount withoutaffording an opportunity for the welt to separate fromthe abutment orconnecting base 18 along the outlet of the welt guide. For this purposethe welt edge gage comprises an elongated leaf spring 28 of an untwistedrectangular cross section and a uniform Width to lit loosely within thespace between the doubled-over portions of the strip. The spring is bentto form a wedgetheY space between the folded-over portions of the weltguide comprises a strip 16 of sheet metal `doubled over into spacedparallel relation to form a generally U-shape with a connecting base 18resulting from a reverse bend ybetween the doubled-over sides. The weltpasses through the space at the base end of the guide and the base endprovides an abutment against which the inner edge of Y position in themachine with the outside surface of its connecting base end in contactwith the upper of a shoe directly opposite the point of operation of thechannel guide 14, so that uniform guiding action of the shoe along thewelt guide is insured, rearwardly extending ex` tremities of the strip16 beyond the center of the obtuse anglefare disposed above and below anI-shaped channel block 22. The doubled-over terminals of the strip tguide strip 16. When the edge gage spring yields from pressure ofthewelt, the free end of the loop 30 engages the forward end of theshank 34 to form a rigid stop whenrthe gap is closed, the yieldingmovement thus being limited by the width of the gap. 4 The edge gageclamp consists of a releasable screw 36 threaded into a flange Von theblock Z2 forming the left side of the channels therein. The screw 36passes loosely through an opening in an L-shaped clamp plate 38 and Y,into the channel block 22. A lower arm of the clamp plate is moved asthe screw 36 is tightened to engage the shank 34 of the leaf spring andgrip it against movement in a direction substantially parallel to themovement of the welt through the welt guide, as indicated by the arrowsin Figs. 3 and 4. The arrangement of the screw and clamp plate-is ofadvantage in preventing malpositioning of the-edge gage when an attemptis made to adjust the gage while in rcontact with the outside edge ofthe welt inthe welt guide. YThe adjustment of the edge gage is notcomplicated, as in the Welt guide of the prior patents, and'is readilyeffected by the use of a single releasable clamp screw 36 Yfor both thewelt guide and gage, the clamp Vscrew 36 being entirely'independent ofthe bolt 24 for clam-ping the Vwelt guide to the channel block ZZ.Furthermore, the clamp screw 36 and the clamp plate 38 being locatedentirely outside of the space between the folded-over portions of thewelt guide strip, are readily visible and accessible at all times. Also,by this arrangement it is possible to remove the edge gage spring 28without loosening the bolt 24 for holding the welt guide in place. Whenthe screw 36 is released the shank end of the leaf spring 28 may belowered from between the clamp plate and the side tlange of the channelblock. For this purpose the loop 30 of the leaf spring enters the spacebetween the doubled-over portions of the welt guide strip only betweenthe obtuse angle formed by the guide and the connecting base end of thestrip, which is relatively straight and inclined upwardly. When thescrew 36 is released, the loop 30 in the spring may be moved downwardlyand rearwardly along the inclined portion to a position which willdepress the shank 34 of the spring below the ange on the channel blockand the lower arm of the clamp plate so as to free the spring withoutremoving the screw 36.

As in the welt guide of the inventors prior patent, the mounting channelblock 22 has projecting from its right side an integral spindle 40secured within a split clamp 42, in turn mounted on a welt guide carriersimilar to that illustrated in said patent.

The nature and scope of the invention having been indicated and aparticular embodiment having been described, what is claimed is:

1. A machine for attaching a welt to a last supported Goodyear welt shoeupper and to a sole member, having stitch-forming devices, including acurved hook needle and a welt guide formed of a doubled-over strip ofsheet material with a connecting base, between spaced doubled-overportions of which the welt is directed, in combination with edge gagemeans for pressing the welt widthwise against the connecting basebetween the doubled-over portions, said gage means comprising anelongated leaf spring fitting the space between the doubled overportions of the welt guide strip and forming an incomplete yielding loophaving a gap to enable widthwise movement in the welt limited by thewidth of the gap as the curvature of a shoe being sewn changes fromconcave to convex and to form a rigid stop when the gap is closed.

2. A machine for attaching a welt to a last supported Goodyear welt shoeupper and to a sole member, having stitcheforming devices, including acurved hook needle and a welt guide formed of a doubled-over strip ofsheet material with a connecting base, between spaced doubledoverportions of which the welt is directed, in combination with edge gagemeans for pressing the welt width- Wise against the connecting basebetween the doubledover portions, said gage means comprising anelongated leaf spring fitting the space between the doubled overportions of the welt guide strip and forming an incomplete yielding loophaving a gap to enable widthwise movement in the welt limited to thewidth of the gap as the curvature of a shoe being sewn changes fromconcave to convex, and means for clamping the leaf spring outside of thespace between the doubled-over portions of the welt guide strip, saidclamping means consisting of a releasable screw and a clamp plateengaged by the screw disposed to grip the spring in a directionsubstantially parallel to the movement of the welt through the weltguide.

3. A machine for attaching a welt to a last supported Goodyear welt shoeupper and to -a sole member having stitch-forming devices including acurved hook needle, a welt guide formed of a doubled-over strip of sheetmaterial with a connecting base, between spaced doubledover portions ofwhich the welt is directed and an I* shaped channel mounting block forthe guide within the channels of which the doubled-over portions of thestrip 6. are secured, in combination with edge gage means for pressingthe welt widthwise against the connecting base between the doubled-overportions of the strip, said gage means comprising an elongated leafspring fitting the space between the doubled-over portions of the weltguide strip and forming an incomplete yielding loop having a gap toenable widthwise movement in the welt limited to the width of the gap asthe curvature of a shoe being sewn changes from concave to convex, andmeans for clamping the leaf spring outside of the space between thefolded-over portions of the welt guide strip, consisting of a releasablescrew threaded into the mounting block and a clamp plate engaged by thescrew disposed to grip the spring against the block in a directionsubstantially parallel to the movement of the welt through the weltguide.

4. A machine for attaching a welt to a last supported Goodyear welt shoeupper and to a sole member, having stitch-forming devices including acurved hook needle, a welt guide formed of a double-over strip of sheetmaterial with a connecting base and spaced doubled-over portionsextending from the base in parallel relation and forming an obtuse angleand relatively straight spaced portions at either side of the angle,within the space along the base end of which strip the welt passes andan I-shaped channel mounting block for the guide, within the channels ofwhich the doubled-over portions of the strip are secured, in combinationwith gage means for pressing the welt widthwise against the connectingbase between the doubled-over portions of the strip, said gage meanscomprising an elongated leaf spring forming an incomplete yielding loophaving a gap to enable widthwise movement in the welt limited to thewidth of the gap as the curvature of a shoe being sewn changes fromconcave to convex, said loop of the spring fitting the relativelystraight portions of the strip at that side of the angle along which thewelt passes, and means for clamping the leaf spring entirely outside ofthe space between the folded-over portions of the welt guide strip, theleaf spring entering the space between the doubledover portions of thestrip only at that side of the obtuse angle engaging the welt to enableadjustment of the spring along or removal of the spring from thedoubledover portion of the strip, said clamping means consisting of areleasable screw threaded into the channel mounting block `and a clampplate engaged by the screw acting to grip the strip against the block ina direction substantially parallel to the movement of the welt throughthe welt guide.

5. A machine for attaching a welt to a last supported Goodyear welt shoeupper and to a sole member, having stitch-forming devices including acurved hook needle and a welt guide formed of a doubled-over strip ofsheet material with a connecting base, between spaced doubledoverportions of which the welt is directed, in combination with edge gagemeans for pressing the welt widthwise against the connecting basebetween the doubled-over portions, said gage means' comprising anelongated leaf spring of uniform untwisted rectangular cross sectionfitting the space between the doubled-over portions of the welt guidestrip and forming an incomplete angular loop having a gap to enablewidthwise movement in the welt limited to the width of the gap as thecurvature of a shoe being sewn changes from concave to convex.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS2,640,448 Roberts lune 2, 1953 2,648,302 Pearsall Aug. 11, 19532,878,762 Rubico Mar. 24, 1959

